Ever morphing Nathan Sproul still up to old tricks

Just a year ago, a brightly smiling Meghan Cox was featured in the Phoenix Business Journal as an honoree of the “40 Under 40” up-and-coming business leaders. 

More recently, she’s the subject of a less glowing Arizona Republic headline, “Report ties Arizona political operative to Ohio bribery case.” Cox has not been charged with a crime.

The Dayton Daily News covered what has been described as “the largest bribery case ever in Ohio” here, reporting Ohio Republican House Speaker Larry Householder and four other prominent men have been arrested in a $60 million federal bribery case, charged with participating in a racketeering conspiracy. The charge carries up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The scheme was tied to the $1.3 billion taxpayer-funded bailout of Ohio’s two struggling nuclear power plants.

Opponents launched a citizen referendum campaign to send the bailout package to the ballot, where voters would have an opportunity to reject it. Speaker Householder and his allies counterattacked by paying petitioners for the referendum campaign, which had 60 days to collect 265,000 signatures, not to work or to switch sides.

As part of that effort, Householder’s operation hired Tempe-based Lincoln Strategy Group, previously known as Sproul and Associates until the name become toxic. Nathan Sproul is no stranger to nefarious dealings. Meghan Cox, identified as “a leading expert in ballot initiative access and strategy” is listed on the website as co-founder and principal.

This 82-page criminal complaint (rife with redactions) against Householder and his allies includes text message exchanges between an unnamed signature collector and a woman who identifies herself as Meghan, asking if the petition carrier is still working for the referendum campaign and offering $2,500 “to sign on with our team today. Begin reading on page 75.

When her offer is rejected, Meghan tells the person, “If you aren’t interested in my offer – no worries. Thank you.” The contact then questioned her ethics and inferred that her conduct was illegal.

Meghan’s phone number and the company she identified herself as working for are redacted in the complaint. The complaint refers to Meghan as “Contractor 1” and her company as “Petition Services Co 2.” Meghan has since been identified as Meghan Cox

The hard-left local newspaper provides a platform for Sproul to spew as an opinion contributor. This one goes back to 2008.

This 2008 post reveals even more Sproul trickery as we wrote in “Prop 202: Arizona’s ‘Stop Illegal Hiring’ Act is a Sham.” He used a deceptive name intended to fool voters who overwhelmingly support controls.

In 2014 SRAZ wrote, “Below-the-belt politics? Nathan Sproul lurks nearby.”

In 2012,the RNC fired Sproul after reports of voter fraud. This action came as three employees of Strategic Allied Consulting, a firm owned by operative Nathan Sproul, pleaded guilty in Florida to felony charges related to altering and destroying scores of voter registration forms. Investigations were also launched in Colorado and Nevada.

These reveals are just the tip of the Sprouling iceberg, but they show his descending path since serving as the head of the AZ Christian Coalition and then as Executive Director of the AZ Republican Party. Deception is far more lucrative.